


kiss it better

by nonameforhire



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, based off a tweet by incorrect tdp quotes, before they get to the silvergrove but after the adoraburr field, callum is a sweetheart, flustered messes, i guess this counts as a rayllum campfire scene?, rayla knows she's in love and is NOT happy about it, rayla tries to flirt for like three seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22341265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonameforhire/pseuds/nonameforhire
Summary: “Here,” he said, lifting up her finger to his face. “Let me kiss it better!”in which Rayla cuts her finger and our lovable human prince kisses it better. Fluff and embarrassment ensues.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 167





	kiss it better

Rayla was distracted.

Rayla _hated_ being distracted.

Rayla _especially_ hated being distracted by a certain dumb human, especially when he wasn’t even doing anything particularly stupid that warranted her attention.

They were just sitting in front of the campfire. Simple enough, or so she’d thought when she’d made it. Xadia got cold at night, especially when one didn’t have any blankets like they did. On their way into Xadia, Runaan and the other assassins had slept close together for warmth when they’d actually stopped for rest. Doing the same with Callum was _out of the question_. Though it wasn’t like she didn’t want to…

Rayla blew a strand out of her face in frustration. Next to her, Zym looked up at her, surprised. She sent him a smile and muttered the words, _“I’m okay,”_ to reassure him. The baby dragon seemed to accept that and cuddled closer to her side. She rubbed the fur at the top of his head fondly before returning to her task of attempting to sharpen her blades while simultaneously being distracted by the resident human in their camp.

She knew how she felt. She didn’t _like_ it, but she was fully aware of just how much she had fallen for this dumb, adorable human. Rayla wasn’t even sure when it had happened; all she knew was that in that moment before Callum had woken up from his dark-magic-induced slumber, she had known exactly how she’d felt when faced with a world without him.

And those _feelings_ hadn’t gone away. Then again, she hadn’t really tried very hard to get rid of them, had she? She’d intentionally led him through the scenic parts of Xadia, with all the adoraburrs and magical flowers, _just_ to see the way his face lit up in excitement. She could still picture that stupid grin he’d had as he held that magic cube up to everything he could find. He’d even held it up to _her_ once or twice in his haste. Seeing Callum’s face light up like that after his melancholy at seeing his brother leave made it feel like a miniature Lux Aurea had taken up residence in her chest. Every time she so much as _thought_ about him, that warmth returned. She wouldn’t have minded so much if it didn’t get in the way of her accomplishing things.

When he’d adjusted the scarf around her neck at the border—and his face had been _so close_ —she’d completely forgotten about the giant sun dragon bearing down on them, so distracted she’d been by his—admittedly handsome—face. And then there’d been the time she’d almost _walked into a tree_ just because their hands had brushed as they walked. She really was a mess when it came to him, wasn’t she?

Still. He was _Callum_ , and he _was_ her best friend. She’d meant every word she’d said about him to Sol Regem. If she could, she wouldn’t change the way she felt about him even just a little bit, because he was perhaps the most compassionate and amazing person she had ever met. She just wished that it wasn’t such a blatant _distraction._

Which was why she found herself half-gazing, half-glaring at him from across the campfire. He was busy drawing in his sketchbook, a concentrated look on his face. He had this habit of chewing on his bottom lip when he worked on his art, his pencil moving across the page almost without pause. Every once in a while, he’d use his free hand to brush his hair out of his face, then return it to his side, where it fiddled with the loose fabric of his jacket.

He was just so… _cute,_ and she hated that it captured her attention so thoroughly. Surely she could be in love with him without it becoming a total and complete distraction? They still had a job to do, after all.

Suddenly, without warning, Callum looked up at her. Rayla hadn’t been expecting that at all, and she was so surprised—heart jumping and flipping around like a Tidebound elf out of water—that she couldn’t look away in time to avoid making eye contact.

She…really loved his eyes. And the way that the skin around them crinkled when he sent such a _genuine_ smile over to her. And the way the amber light from the campfire seemed to wash over his features, making him seem even more handsome than he already was…

 _Snick!_ Her finger slid off the whetstone she forgot she’d been using and ran right over the edge of her sword. 

A curse escaped from her mouth as her sword dropped to the ground and she clumsily moved her legs out of the way to avoid it. Her finger throbbed, and when she turned to inspect it, she found a thin line of blood across the pad of her right index finger that was only growing.

She cursed again and held her finger against her shirt in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. It wasn’t that it particularly hurt; after all, by this point in their journey, she was well used to the idea of injuries. It was more the shock of the sudden cut—and frustration at why she had received it—that had her scowling. Next to her, Zym’s head perked up and he whined sympathetically.

“Rayla, are you okay?” Callum asked, nearly dropping his sketchbook on the ground as he scrambled around the campfire to check on her. When she glanced up to look at him, she found that his face was wrinkled in worry.

“I’m fine,” she grumbled, frustration that she had worried Callum adding to the weight of her scowl. “It’s just a little cut. Surprised me more than anything.”

Callum sat on the log she was seated on, their knees almost touching. She could see that _annoying_ (adorable) softness in his eyes, and once more her heart lurched in her chest as he gently took her wrist―hesitating for a moment to see if she’d stop him―and brought her injured finger over to him.

He observed it for a moment quite seriously―all with Rayla staring at him in a _very_ dumb manner―before he looked back up with her with one of his _stupid_ (wonderful) grins.

“Here,” he said, lifting up her finger to his face. “Let me kiss it better!”

Rayla’s brain shorted out. Callum smiling at her and uttering the word _kiss_ in the same breath was _not_ what she had been expecting to happen when she’d set up camp. It took her a moment to realize that he was talking about her finger, but the flush on her face (the same one creeping up to her ears and down to her neck) didn’t go away, and neither did the warm feeling in her chest.

“H-How will that help?” she found herself stammering out in a voice that was far more subdued than she would have liked.

He was still holding her wrist gently in one hand, his other resting under her palm. She couldn’t help but notice how much bigger his hands were than hers. Not that she minded. His hands were softer than hers, not suited to combat, and she found it comforting. Callum brought her hand a little closer to his face as he spoke, and she reminded herself that they were indeed having a conversation.

“W-well,” he said, looking down at her finger and then back at her. “Whenever I was little, I’d scrape myself up a lot, so my…my mom would always kiss it to make it better.”

Rayla frowned. “Does it work?” She’d never heard of doing that before. Perhaps the humans had a strange way of healing each other?

Callum chuckled. “Well, no, but…it’s just something that you do for someone you care about, I guess.”

Rayla’s blush deepened, and she thought she could see a faint dusting of pink across Callum’s cheeks as well. Her heart made a little _ba-dump_ sound in her chest as he lifted her finger to his mouth and kissed it gently.

“There!” he said, sending another one of his smiles at her when he pulled away. Was it just her imagination, or did his face seem redder? “Doesn’t that feel better?”

“Y-yeah,” Rayla murmured, her finger tingling for an entirely different reason now. “Yeah, it does.”

For the second time in the past ten minutes, their eyes caught each other again. But it was different this time; this time, she could feel the heat of his gaze on her―could feel it all the way up in the roots of her hair. As she stared into his emerald green eyes, she could feel a strong _tug_ in her stomach; almost as if the human were using some strange form of magic on her. Her heart beat out a new rhythm in her chest. For once, she didn’t mind the distraction at all.

And, of course, the moment didn't last long.

Zym jumped up suddenly, bumping into Rayla’s arm and breaking the grip that she hadn’t realized Callum still had on her hand. She was rather abruptly yanked back to reality as the little dragonling hopped up on her lap, tail wagging, and began to lick her face happily.

“Ugh―yes, Zym, I’m okay!” Rayla exclaimed, trying her best to lean away from the dragon prince. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped from her mouth as Zym yipped happily. She heard Callum chuckle as well, which of course meant that the baby dragon turned his attention to his other surrogate parent, pouncing on him with adorable intent.

Rayla laughed harder as Callum nearly fell off the log, fumbling with the dragon now perched on his chest. There was a warmth in her heart that she found had her grinning as she watched them.

Maybe being in love with this human prince wasn’t so bad after all.

The thought made her grin wider, mader her heart beat harder. As Zym finally settled down in Callum’s arms, giving him one more of his zappy kisses, Rayla found bold words spilling out of her mouth without warning.

“So, Callum,” she started. Then, before she could lose her nerve, “This whole ‘kissing it better’ thing must work fairly well for you humans.” She gulped and hoped he didn’t notice. “But what if…say, that Soren guy punched me in the face and I cut my lip? What then?”

Callum froze.

Did that mean what he thought it did? Was she just saying that to get a rise out of him? It was clearly working, for the mere _idea_ of a cut on Rayla’s lip and the words he’d just said a minute before― _“Let me kiss it better!”_ ―made the cool forest suddenly seem far too hot, like they were back at the Breach. The _thought_ of what she had suggested (and the accompanying images that he would _never_ admit had been quite frequent in his dreams) made his hands shake, his heart race, his _feelings_ ―ones he’d been trying to shove down since as early as the storm on Villads’s ship―rise so far up to the surface that he was extraordinarily glad he was staring at the ground so she wouldn’t be able to see every ounce of (far from platonic) affection he had for her written all over his face.

It had to be a joke, right? Yes. Of course. A joke. She was _messing_ with him. He couldn’t even allow himself to consider the alternative―that she _was_ flirting, that she _did_ feel the same way, that she _wanted_ him to kiss her. Or she wanted to kiss him. He thought his heart would fall out of his open mouth at the thought.

… _was_ she flirting, though? Callum wasn’t even sure he knew _how_ to flirt, especially considering how much of a disaster his little “date” with Claudia at the Moon Nexus had been (even though at that moment, he had a hard time remembering what Claudia even _looked_ like, so focused was he on the elf across from him and her words). So, no. He decided that Rayla couldn’t be flirting. While he had no doubt she had plenty of experience with it―really, who _wouldn’t_ trip over themselves for a chance with her?―Callum also knew that she probably wouldn’t waste her time with the likes of him when she could have any warrior she wanted, not some goofy human mage. They were best friends; nothing more. He would be happy with that no matter what.

Still. That didn’t stop the incomprehensible string of syllables that fell out of his mouth.

“Whugh―uhngm―ugh?”

Rayla, to her credit (and despite the panic that had been ringing in her ears as she helplessly watched his face grow more and more red), managed, _somehow_ , to laugh it off. Though, really, it wasn’t so hard, for the hysterical laugh that escaped her was fueled by a mixture of panic, embarrassment, and amusement at whatever it was that Callum had just tried to say. Mostly, though, she was glad that she was able to play off her _terrible_ attempt at flirting (which, by the way, she had absolutely _zero_ experience with).

“I’m just kidding,” she fibbed when her laughter had died down, patting Callum on the knee even as both Zym and the human boy looked at her curiously. “Go back to your drawing, smooth prince.”

He flushed deeper, no doubt because he had opened his mouth to say something and then immediately shut it, probably deciding it was better that he didn’t speak. She found it a relief when he shot her one last awkward smile before crossing back over to his side of the camp, picking his pencil back up as he sat down. His face was still as red as the embers of their campfire.

“…but I wouldn’t mind you kissing me better at all,” Rayla found herself muttering, too low for him to hear it as she smiled and picked her sword back up.

She had no way of knowing that Callum was thinking the same thing on his side of the camp, embarrassment giving way to an equally dumb smile on his face as he resumed drawing one of his many sketches of her.

_Maybe one day._

**Author's Note:**

> What’s this? A one-shot of mine that doesn’t end with a smooch? I didn’t realize how many of those I had started writing until this ended? But hey, I’m happy with it. We love our two awkward teenagers who are utterly clueless.
> 
> (I, too, have absolutely no experience with flirting. But I did my best.)
> 
> It took me all day to find a beta for this, but eventually I found an irl to do it, though she doesn't have an ao3 account. So if you're reading this, thanks! 
> 
> This was loosely based on a tweet by incorrect tdp quotes, and I said I'd write it a while ago but never really got around to it until recently. Hope you guys enjoyed!


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